Support : Publications : Chronolog Archives : January/February 2005

Dialog DataStar Enhanced by Continuous Improvements in 2004

2004 was a very constructive year for Dialog DataStar. At the direct request of valued customers, many large and small improvements were made to Dialog DataStarWeb, resulting in a more user-friendly system. In addition, the system capacity was expanded by 50%, resulting in significantly improved response times.

A total of 32 files were newly added, reloaded, or implemented with additional search fields or features, such as images and thesauri.

Major improvements to Dialog DataStarWeb in 2004 include:

• Implementation of multifile Alerts
  
  
• Ability to edit and rerun Alerts
  
  
• A tracker tool to monitor the status of all Alerts and deliveries sent in the last two months via e-mail
  
  
• Postprocessing with Thomson ISI ResearchSoft products such as ProCite®, Reference Manager and EndNote® (also added to Dialog DataStarClassic)
  
  
• Improved thesaurus navigation with top-level categories displayed for all biomedical databases with an online thesaurus, including MEDLINE®, EMBASE® and Cinahl®.
  
  
• Scope notes, a small yellow icon displayed next to all descriptor terms found in the biomedical files which have a thesaurus
  
  
• Implementation of the RANK command

Enhancements added to make Dialog DataStarWeb easier to use are:

• A print preview button to the Title page to remove buttons and banners from print output
  
  
• Three formats—HTML, PDF, RTF—to save documents on the Title page
  
  
• Improved search strategy saving options
  
  
• Search terms highlighted in color and bold font
  
  
• A save button and additional format options for databases with a Table of Contents
  
  
• Ability to check several documents across multiple title pages and then view the checked documents
  
  
• Ability to define the number of documents to be displayed on subsequent document pages
  
  
• Sort feature on the Alerts page

eLinks Manager enhancements include:

• eLinks enhancements including OpenURL management
  
  
• eLinks displayed in Alert output

Finally, an updated Dialog DataStarClassic User Guide in PDF format is available online.

Look for additional enhancements to Dialog DataStar in 2005.

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